Characteristics of a Board of Directors | Diversity, Wealth, Passion, Networking, "Can Do" Attitude
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Characteristics of a Board of Directors
- This article has been reprinted with Christopher's written permission from helium.com. -
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Gandhi
Diversity
Wealth
An important component for a great board is that it has some wealthy people on it. Rich people hang out with other rich people, and this can come in pretty handy when you need to raise a lot of money for your cause, especially at the beginning. Passion
Networking
This goes back to what I said about how rich people hang out with other rich people. You need to make sure that your board members are great networkers. They need to be able to go to make good contacts, build rapport with people, and make friends. This seems easy, but not very many people have this ability. "Can-Do Attitude"
Conclusion
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Books to help you develop a successful Board of Directors
Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards
A new framework for helping nonprofit organizations maximize the effectiveness of their boards.
Written by noted consultants and researchers attuned to the needs of practitioners, Governance as Leadership redefines nonprofit governance. It provides a powerful framework for a new covenant between trustees and executives: more macrogovernance in exchange for less micromanagement.
Informed by theories that have transformed the practice of organizational leadership, this book sheds new light on the traditional fiduciary and strategic work of the board and introduces a critical third dimension of effective trusteeship: generative governance. It serves boards as both a resource of fresh approaches to familiar territory and a lucid guide to important new territory, and provides a road map that leads nonprofit trustees and executives to governance as leadership.
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Boards That Make a Difference (J-B Carver Board Governance Series)
In this revised and updated third edition, Carver continues to debunk the entrenched beliefs and habits that hobble boards and to replace them with his innovative approach to effective governance. This proven model offers an empowering and fundamental redesign of the board role and emphasizes values, vision, empowerment of both the board and staff, and strategic ability to lead leaders. Policy Governance gives board members and staff a new approach to board job design, board-staff relationships, the role of the chief executive, performance monitoring, and virtually every aspect of the board-management relationship.
This latest edition has been updated and expanded to include explanatory diagrams that have been used by thousands of Carver's seminar participants. It also contains illustrative examples of Policy Governance model policies that have been created by real-world organizations. In addition, this third edition of Boards That Make a Difference includes a new chapter on model criticisms and the challenges of governance research.
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The Nonprofit Board Answer Book: A Practical Guide for Board Members and Chief Executives
"Think for a moment of the best conversations you've had with friends and colleagues. You were honest with one another-not shy about speaking up but relaxed, even if the topic being discussed was serious in nature. That's the type of conversation The Nonprofit Board Answer Book aims to have with you in the pages that follow. It follows a question-and-answer format, enabling you to quickly find an answer to a burning question you have right now.
At the same time, it's easy to pick up and read straight through, either cover to cover or one section at a time.
At the end of each question-and-answer pairing you'll find suggested action steps. These offer ways to put the information to a practical use on your own board and within your own nonprofit organization. Implementing some of these steps may lead to more questions as you become even more committed to fulfilling your responsibilities as a board member.
Remember: behind every good answer lies a good question. So keep asking those questions."--from the Introduction
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Reinventing Your Board: A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Policy Governance (J-B Carver Board Governance Series)
Carver's groundbreaking Policy Governance model is the best-known, respected, and talked about governance model in the world and has fundamentally influenced the way organizations are governed.
Reinventing Your Board, second edition, is a hands-on, step-by-step guide that puts the model to work in the meeting-to-meeting lives of board members. It includes new policy samples and a new chapter on monitoring performance, as well as other practical "put-the-model-in-motion" advice.
This popular and highly successful companion to Boards That Make a Difference contains the nuts-and-bolts materials needed for implementing Policy Governance.
The authors illustrate effective board decision making, show how to craft useful policies, and offer practical advice on such matters as setting the agenda, monitoring CEO performance, defining the board role, and more.
Step-by-step instructions and sample policies make this a must-have resource for boards in the public and nonprofit sectors aiming to govern their organizations with excellence.
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Nonprofit Boards That Work: The End of One-Size-Fits-All Governance
As more than 10 million people in the United States alone have said 'yes' to board service, they also expect to see their time and talents used effectively. This great book gives a straightforward approach to understanding the role of the board, tailoring its work to meet the needs of specific organizations, and creating a culture of board productivity that makes participation rewarding for board members as well as the organizations they serve.
Nonprofit Boards That Work:
- Distinguishes between theory and practice and encourages boards to explore how they genuinely add value to the work of the organization
- Goes beyond the hows and whys of nonprofit governance to provide frank advice and real-world examples of what works, what doesn't, what requires a miracle, and what can be achieved through diligent and deliberate effort
- Offers practical yet flexible strategies that can be tried by any nonprofit board, whatever its current effectiveness
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Learn more about Christopher by reading his blog. . .
Nonprofit Leadership, Innovation, and Change
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